If I were the manager...

For anyone who does read my blog, I apologise for the recent 'blog silence' as I have written my last 2 or 3 articles on arsenalvision.co.uk. Which is a website I recommend by the way.

This article may well be a summary of the many going ons at the club we call 'The Arsenal' this past week. Or maybe not, let's see where I go (I don't plan these you know). First of all, the question: 'How do you replace Cesc Fabregas?' Well my answer is you don't. There is not one player on this planet that is better than Cesc Fabregas at what he does, i.e. an attacking, creative midfielder. We could spend millions on some quality player like Sneijder or Modric but we still wouldn't be as good as we were in that department of the pitch as we were when Cesc Fabregas was at Arsenal. Instead, we should improve other areas of the team, such as left back, centre defence, defensive midfield and up front. Plus we have potential replacements for Fabregas at the club and many creative players such as Ramsey, Wilshere, Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain and Tomas Rosicky.

Here's what I'd do, or try to do, if I was the manager of Arsenal:

1) Sign a left back. Gibbs is a very good player who is only going to get better but he is too injury prone and we need a quality, experienced left back in the squad. My first choice would be Leighton Baines, so I'd try to sign him or someone cheaper if Everton's demands are too high.

2) Sign a centre back. Phil Jagielka would be my first choice, but Chris Samba, Gary Cahill and Per Mertesacker are also players I would like to see at Arsenal, even Scott Dann maybe. Koscielny and Vermaelen are very good centre backs and a good enough partnership to win the league in my opinion but we need strength in depth as Squillaci and Djourou aren't good enough in my opinion. This is not to say I'd bring 'Jags' in as backup, as I'd love to see him start most games, along with one of the best CB's in the world- Thomas Vermaelen.

3) Sign a striker. Chamakh isn't good enough and Bendtner wants to go so we don't want to be too reliant on Van Persie. Even someone like Defoe would be a good signing IMO.

4) Sign a defensive midfielder. Marouane Fellaini from Everton would be my first choice but Scott Parker and Blaise Matuidi would be good singings too.

5) Get rid of Squillaci, Chamakh, Traore and maybe Bendtner.

6) If there's still enough money left I'd buy someone like Mata or Hazard perhaps to replace Nasri who looks to be going imminently. Again, maybe someone cheaper, but I don't think the wing positions are a priority as we already have Walcott, Arshavin, Miyaichi, Gervinho, Chamberlain and Rosicky who can play there.

This would freshen up the squad and make us title contenders I think but with the one we have now, we'll be battling for fourth.

Another article coming up soon...